Current wireless broadband data communications systems provide high bandwidth necessary for delivering high data rates (and high quality voice, such as VOIP) for both fixed and mobile applications. Such systems may operate in conformance with the High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) protocol or specification. Existing HRPD systems function in accordance with interface standards developed by 3GPP2/TIA (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2/Telecommunications Industry Association, namely the HRPD Interoperablility Specification (IOS) (3GPP2 A.S0007-A v.2.0 May 2003), which is incorporated herein by reference. HRPD systems typically employ air interfaces in accordance with TIA-856, while their network architectures are structured according to either the TIA-878 or the TIA-1878 specifications, also incorporated herein by reference.
Once the HRPD connection is established between an access terminal (AT) and the access network (AN), one or more Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) sessions are also established. The PPP is utilized over the HRPD for both access authentication and service authentication. One problem with using PPP is that PPP is relatively inefficient within a wireless environment. PPP has a long setup time and requires extra header framing. This results in significant added overhead to the call setup and an increase in latency over the bearer path. Moreover, PPP is not readily suitable for real-time applications.
Accordingly, there are needed methods and systems that eliminate utilization of PPP in access and service authentication processes in HRPD wireless communication systems.